Specific tips on taking a physics exam?

Re: Tips

Just saw your post, so this is probably too late, but here's some general advice.

• Be familiar with all the equations you are being tested on, so that you can quickly figure out which equation or equations will apply to any particular problem. Corollary: know which equations do not apply to a given problem.
  
  Example: "A wire carrying a current of 2.0 A is at 90 degrees to a magnetic field of 5.0 T ..."
  In this case, realize that equations dealing with current I and magnetic field B are relevant. Moreover, equations dealing with a charge q moving at velocity v are not relevant.
  
  
  
• Be able to draw a diagram to show what is going on pictorially. An example of this is using a free-body diagram to show the forces, including directions, acting on an object.
  
  
  
• Read the problem carefully, so that you are aware of all information that is being given you. Sometimes purely verbal information is actually conveying numerical information. Example: "An electron ..." means "a charge with q=-1.60x10^-19C and mass m= 9.11x10^-31kg..."

 

Re: Tips

For future reference, more physics exam tips are being discussed here:

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=312989